Bacterial infections are a major global health hazard affecting millions of people worldwide. Many antibacterial drugs and articles have been developed over the years for better treatment or prevention of bacterial infections. For example, Vancomycin, a narrow spectrum antibacterial compound, is active against Gram-positive bacteria. Vancomycin inhibits bacterial cell wall synthesis by binding to the peptidoglycan peptide terminus D-Ala-D-Ala found in bacterial cell wall precursors, sequestering the substrate from transpeptidase and inhibiting cell wall cross-linking. However, over the years, many Gram-positive bacteria have acquired resistance to Vancomycin by modifying their peptidoglycan terminus, changing from D-Ala-D-Ala to D-Ala D-Lac. Significant efforts have been directed toward the discovery of next-generation glycopeptide antibiotics that address the emerging drug-resistance of bacteria, especially the vancomycin resistance.
The options for treating drug-resistant bacteria have not yet realized successfully and the emergence of drug-resistant bacteria strains is on the increase. Thus there is continuous need to identify and/or develop new compounds and/or derivatives that has improved activity against drug-resistant bacterial strains.
The present invention relates to cationic compounds that exhibit a wide spectrum of antibacterial activity against both wild-type and drug-resistant bacteria. The disclosed compounds and compositions comprising the disclosed compounds are active against both Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria.